Politics Now: Israel 'holding itself to account, unlike Hamas', says Simon Birmingham

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham urges Australia to ensure the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict isn't forgotten amid the 'tragedy' of seven aid workers’ deaths.

Senator Simon Birmingham. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

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4:19 pm April 7, 2024

'No change' to Operation Sovereign Borders: PM

Joanna Panagopoulos

Anthony Albanese says that while people smugglers are changing their tactics, there has been “no change” to Operation Sovereign Borders since 2013, after a group of 15 people arrived in an extremely remote pocket of the far north Kimberley region of Western Australia on Friday.

The latest group are the third known arrivals since November.

Asked whether he was concerned about the increase in boats arriving to Australia, the Prime Minister said: “People smugglers will always try to change their methods in order to ply what is the dangerous trade. But there is no change to Operation Sovereign Borders. It's important that that message be sent.”

“And once again, through the response of the Australian government, that message will be sent very clearly again to the region.”

Last week, The Australian revealed Rear Admiral Brett Sonter, the OSB commander, ­ordered an “enhanced posture” after a series of people-smuggling ventures linked with faster fishing boats and new tactics to breach maritime borders.

Asked about this, Mr Albanese said “I do note, Rear Admiral Sonter’s very clear message that there's been no change in policy since 2013.

“We'll use all avenues at our disposal to make sure that the borders are protected and make sure we respond in accordance with the principles of Operation Sovereign Borders. And that's what we have, again, done on this occasion.”

3:53 pm April 7, 2024

'Don't exist': Albanese slams Dutton's nuclear plan

Joanna Panagopoulos

Anthony Albanese has attacked Peter Dutton's pledge to deliver small modular reactors into the grid by the mid-2030s if the Coalition is elected, saying they “don't exist” and the move will come too late.

The Opposition Leader told The Weekend Australian he had met privately last week with executives from nuclear power plant manufacturer Rolls-Royce and its Australian partner Penske over the pursuit of low-cost small modular reactor technology for Australia.

“Peter Dutton of course, has had this policy now for a while, but he continues to change it. I'm not quite sure whether it's large nuclear reactors because the small modular reactors that he's spoken about, of course, don't exist,” the Prime Minister said.

“So he's speaking about large scale nuclear reactors which can't be built, some would say for decades. But even he himself is more than a decade off.”

He said Australian can't afford to “do nothing” for a decade until nuclear reactors are functional.

“Peter Dutton's policy is for nothing to happen, meanwhile for there to be in the future a real shortage of energy because nothing has happened. That's what his recipe is for,” Mr Albanese said.

“We will continue to put forward a practical plan rolling out renewable capacity, making sure that in former coal-fired power stations like Liddell, where we will be manufacturing solar panels, employing more people than were employed under the former Liddell power station.

“The cheapest form of new energy is renewables, which is why there isn't a single private sector organisation putting their hand up saying that they want to fund a nuclear reactor here in Australia,” he added.

3:50 pm April 7, 2024

PM on Gaza investigation, special advisor

Joanna Panagopoulos

Anthony Albanese says humanitarian and international law must be upheld after Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom was killed alongside six colleagues in Gaza.

He said the appointment of a special adviser, who will oversee Israel’s investigation into the attack which killed the seven aid workers, would be announced within the next 24 hours.

“It is important that today, which is six months since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that occurred, that I once again reiterate our complete and unequivocal opposition to the events that happened on October 7,” Mr Albanese said at a press conference on Sunday.

“We need to make sure that humanitarian assistance is gotten to those people who need it. And in addition to that, we need to make sure that humanitarian law, international law is upheld.

“That provides for the right of aid workers to be able to go about their humanitarian work in safety. And the events which led to Zomi Frankcom losing her life are unacceptable and Australia will continue to seek a resolution and clear information and transparency around this, which is why we will be appointing an appropriate person to examine the details of what has occurred here.”

3:07 pm April 7, 2024

NSW SES allay Windsor Bridge concerns

Alexi Demetriadi

The head of NSW’s State Emergency Services has allayed fears about whether the Windsor Bridge would go under after this weekend’s deluge, but has said warnings were still being issued at areas across the state.

Speaking at the bridge on Sunday, NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York APM said that warnings were still being issued for areas including Sackville, Ebenezer, Lower Portland, Pitt Town Bottoms, Cumberland Reach, Gronos Point, parts of Leets Vale, Cattai and Cornwallis.

“Today we’ve still got a lot of flood water around,” she said.

“We’ve got over 60 warnings out to the community to make sure that we’re keeping them safe and there are some areas where the evacuations are still current.

“We’re not expecting the water to subside until this afternoon and tomorrow.”

However, Commissioner York said that the water level at the Hawkesbury River had peaked and there were no fears about it rising up above the Windsor Bridge, where water was lapping at its base across the weekend.

The commissioner was speaking alongside NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib, who praised the work of SES volunteers but urged vigilance.

“This is a good day,” he said.

“They (NSW SES volunteers) have completed 5000 task jobs and 200 flood rescues.

“We’ve been quite fortunate in the sense today we didn’t need to close the Windsor Bridge which is fantastic for the local community.

“That doesn’t mean the water danger or threat of flood is over.”

3:03 pm April 7, 2024

Police locate missing boat arrival

Paige Taylor

The missing man from the illegal boat arrival has been found on the Mitchell Plateau after an intense land search involving drones.

Once authorities became aware from other members of the group that one man was unaccounted for, there were grave concerns for him. The area is hot, rugged and populated by saltwater crocodiles and snakes.

Read more here

1:45 pm April 7, 2024

Police still searching for man missing in WA

Paige Taylor

WA Police have confirmed they are still searching the Mitchell Plateau for the man believed to have become separated from the latest group of illegal boat arrivals.

Live maps of drone activity today near the Truscott airbase documents how drones are being used in the search.

The drones are considered an efficient way to cover a lot of ground in the search because the terrain is tough and the temperature at Truscott was 31.3C and rising at 11am local time on Sunday.

11:21 am April 7, 2024

Disaster relief becomes available for flood-hit NSW

Alexi Demetriadi

The state and federal governments have announced that disaster assistance had been rolled out for flood-hit parts of NSW, predominantly across greater Sydney’s north west, and the Illawarra and south coast.

It comes as thousands of residents in Sydney’s northwest, in the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers area, were evacuated from their homes overnight.

In a joint statement, acting Emergency Management Minister Catherine King and NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib announced that assistance had been unlocked through the jointly run Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Assistance is available in the Blue Mountains, Camden, Hawkesbury, Kiama, Liverpool, Penrith, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Sutherland, Upper Lachlan, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly and Wollongong local government areas.

It includes: funding for affected councils for clean up and restoring damaged assets; assistance for residents to help cover emergency accommodation; and freight subsidies for primary producers to transport livestock and fodder.

It also includes grants for lost items to help maintain basic standard of living and for essential structural repairs.

Ms King said floods had caused widespread damage across NSW in a very short amount of time.

“It’s important that we act quickly to activate disaster support so affected communities can begin their clean-up and recovery,” she said.

Mr Dib acknowledged the efforts of the emergency services and volunteers.

“The State Emergency Service has continued to work throughout the night to reach out to communities and I’m confident that with the work they’ve been doing, that we are being incredibly proactive,” he said.

“Work to assess the impact of flooding across the state is being conducted as quickly as possible, with disaster declarations like these a crucial first step in unlocking assistance.”

11:19 am April 7, 2024

ABF scrambles to transfer boat arrivals to Nauru

Geoff Chambers

A plane understood to be carrying the latest group of illegal maritime arrivals will stop briefly at RAAF Amberley base in Queensland for refuelling before travelling on to Nauru.

Flight tracking data shows the plane departed RAAF Curtin base in Western Australia early on Sunday morning enroute to Queensland.

After arriving at Amberley at 11.55am, the plane will remain on the tarmac for 35-minutes before flying to Nauru where the asylum seekers will be transported to the regional processing centre. Dozens of other recent boat arrivals – mainly Bangladeshi and Pakistani men – are already being processed at the Nauru immigration centre.

Australian Border Force officials last year had to transfer asylum seekers to Darwin briefly before flying them on to Nauru. The ABF typically scrambles to transfer boat arrivals to Nauru as quickly as possible in order to avoid them remaining in-country for an extended period of time.

9:57 am April 7, 2024

Opposition urges transparency over aid worker probe

Alexi Demetriadi

Australian Zomi Frankcom, who was killed in Gaza.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham has refused to say whether he thought the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, was a breach of international law.

“You’re asking me to give a legal judgement that I am not qualified nor with all the facts to be in a position to give a judgement,” Senator Birmingham told ABC Insiders host David Speers.

“We want to make sure processes are transparent (into Ms Frankcom’s death) and ensure that this tragedy is never repeated again.

“We have expectations on the investigations that should occur (by Israel).”

Senator Birmingham declined to answer directly whether he thought Israel should be taking “greater care” to limit civilian loss of life, saying the Opposition and Australia had long held the country to account but that Hamas weren’t held to a similar standard.

“Hamas instigated this war… (the standard) is higher for Israel than a terrorist organisation,” he said.

"Hamas killed Australian Galit Carbone and 1200 others (on October 7)… none of these same points of process apply to Hamas (which do to Israel).

“We shouldn’t forget the broader moral context of this war – Hamas hides their war infrastructure behind civilian infrastructure and aid workers.”

Senator Birmingham said that it was “naive” to think that tragedies and civilian death didn’t happen during war, which he said showed the importance for it to end, with Hamas having no part to play moving forward in Gaza governance.

9:35 am April 7, 2024 Highlight

Don't forget Hamas instigated this: Birmingham

Alexi Demetriadi

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham has urged Australia to ensure the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict wasn’t forgotten or lost amid the “tragedy” of seven aid workers’ deaths.

Speaking on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, Senator Birmingham called the death of Australian World Central Kitchen worker Zomi Frankcom a “tragedy amid a sea of tragedies” since October 7.

“(Remember) it was Hamas who instigated this cycle of violence with their barbaric actions,” the senator said.

“And unlike Hamas, Israel has processes in place (when something goes wrong).”

Sunday marks the six-month anniversary since Hamas’ attacks in Israel last October.

Senator Birmingham said interim findings had been provided by the Israeli government into the death of Ms Frankcom and six of her colleagues, and it showed Israel was taking action and holding itself to account.

“We want to see that clear action is taken on this tragedy, and how it would be prevented from happening again,” he said.

“To see aid flow into Gaza, that requires workers, and that needs Israel to examine clearly the failures that enabled this tragedy.”

The senator, however, warned of giving Hamas any physical or rhetorical respite.

“We shouldn’t let the context of this conflict be lost,” he said.

“Hamas, a terrorist organisation, that is committed to the elimination of Israel and who killed more Jews in a single day than any time since the Holocaust.

“No country would or could sit alongside that sort of threat.”